Atari Force 13 (January 1985)

Atari Force #13 So for his last issue, Conway sort of destroys the world. At least, he destroys the world of Atari Force he has been establishing for twelve issues. And he lets Joey Cavalieri write the script for it. Eduardo Barreto takes over the pencils and does a great job with everything except full page spreads. He can’t do those for whatever reason.

Cavalieri manages a few decent moments, mostly with the supporting cast, as Martin–the series’s lead at this point–dukes it out with the big villain. Lousy fight dialogue on that one. Luckily those other scenes make up for it somewhat.

The ending might have more gravity if it weren’t just thirteen issues into the series. It’s hard to care too much about it, even at a macro level. Cavalieri (and Conway) don’t earn the concern.

There is a nice backup from Paul Kupperberg, Dave Manak and Giffen, however.

C-

CREDITS

The End; writers, Gerry Conway and Joey Cavalieri; penciller, Eduardo Barreto; inker, Ricardo Villagran; colorist, Tom Ziuko; letterer, Bob Lappan; editor, Andy Helfer; publisher, DC Comics.

DC Retroactive: Superman – The ’70s 1 (September 2011)

Martin Pasko knows how to write a good Superman story. Again, not up enough on seventies Superman to know how accurate a flashback issue he writes, but it’s a darn good comic anyway. Pasko brings humanity to the all-powerful character, both in the plot and how he ties it to Superman’s actions.

The stuff with Lois Lane–they’re dating somewhat steady here, but on unstable ground–is absolutely fantastic. Pasko’s dialogue and pacing are also particularly impressive. He fits a lot into the pages, sometimes so much penciller Eduardo Barreto has trouble fitting it all in.

Now, I’m generally familiar with Barreto but the effect Christian Duce’s inks have on the pencils are stunning. Barreto’s clear ability is still there, but the inks give this retro Superman a modern style. It’s beautiful superhero art.

Superman‘s easily DC’s best Retroactive so far. I wish this team did a regular series.

CREDITS

Death Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry; writer, Martin Pasko; penciller, Eduardo Barreto; inker, Christian Duce; colorist, Andrew Elder; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editor, Ben Abernathy; publisher, DC Comics.